John Cena, CM Punk, Vince McMahon to star in animated Flintstones movie, out in 2015

WWE Studios has teamed with Warner Bros. to co-produce a “Flintstones” animated movie that will be released direct-to-homevideo platforms in early 2015.

Toon will feature Vince McMahon, John Cena, CM Punk and other stars on WWE’s talent roster as themselves – with a Flintstones twist (Vince McMagma, John Cenastone, CM Punkrock – as Fred, Barney and friends attend the first WWE main event.

Warner Home Video will distrib the film across all home video platforms, with WWE promoting the pic cross its own TV shows, magazine, websites and live events.

“The Flintstones” becomes the second animated co-production between the companies after they announced an animated “Scooby-Doo” film that will feature WWE’s stars in a new mystery when it’s released in March, just before “WrestleMania 30.”

Deal to co-produce a “Flintstones” film also extends an ongoing joke involving John Cena over the last several years.

Given Cena’s decision to build a brand around wearing brightly colored T-shirts and hats, he was called “fruity pebbles” as an insult during a feud with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

But WWE embraced the term and brokered an endorsement deal with Post Cereals that put Cena on boxes of Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles — even replacing Fred Flintstone — to promote “WrestleMania” and other pay-per-views over the last two years. Cena also has been shown backstage eating bowls of Fruity Pebbles during shows as part of the promo.

The cereal, introduced in 1971, features characters from “The Flintstones” and is the oldest cereal brand based on characters from a TV series or movie.

The Flintstones also enable WWE to expand its efforts to build its family audience. It’s also tag teamed with Saban to produce “WWE Saturday Morning Slam,” a Saturday morning series that’s been airing on the Vortexx block of kids shows on the CW. WWE also will co-produce the TV movie “Christmas Bounty,” with ABC Family, to air during its “25 Days of Christmas” programming block this winter.

“WWE is family-friendly entertainment, so partnering with Warner Bros. on a Flintstones-WWE project was a natural extension of our ‘Scooby-Doo’ deal,” said Michael Luisi, president, WWE Studios. “This new, animated feature allows us to showcase our brand with young fans and loyal Flintstones enthusiasts alike.”

And for Warner Bros., a pair up with WWE enables the studio to build some buzz around its aging “Flintstones” brand the way it’s been able to continue its “Scooby-Doo” series through new sequels and spinoffs over the years.

“Warner Bros. is thrilled to continue our partnership with WWE Studios as we begin production of the latest ‘Flintstones’ animated feature,” said Jeff Brown, executive VP and general manager, TV, Warner Home Video. “Our recent production collaborations have proven successful and we have the utmost confidence that the latest tag team between the WWE Superstars and The Flintstones will deliver the same results.”